5 Editorial Letter Mark Fulton Global Head of Climate Change Investment Research Over the past several years, developing world governments and international organizations have been seeking solutions for energy access for the underprivileged, energy scale-up for more developed countries and on top of this, how to do so in a clean and environmentally-friendly manner. Wherever we have encountered this discussion, the need for private capital has always been a key component. The question is how to generate scaled response through efficient Public-private Partnerships? In our view, what is most often lacking is an understanding of the basic issues being faced literally on-the-ground by project financiers and developers. Hence, we have set out to identify these issues as clearly as possible and then, building on our own and others previous work, provide a potential solution: Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs - GET FiT. In essence, GET FiT is simple: International AAA-rated donors: national governments, development banks, and international climate-related funds provide premium payments for renewable energy in partnership with developing country governments. The payments would be structured in a way to support renewable energy technologies progress towards grid parity. This is a major de-risking for investors and can establish fair and sufficient returns; Developing countries governments and utilities administer the process and guarantee to pay generators at a rate based on the avoided costs of fossil fuel generation. An array of technical and risk mitigation programs will need to be aggregated and coordinated as well. Private investors then deploy capital in renewable energy projects. However, the execution is complex, which our paper addresses. We believe that while there are many options available for renewable energy deployment, advanced and well-designed feed-in tariffs can be applied to accelerate the scale-up of on-grid resources, and to promote energy access through minigrids, while plotting a course to grid parity for the technologies. We have written extensively about feed-in tariffs in the developed world context already in our Paying for Renewable Energy TLC at the Right Price whitepaper. In the developing world, any such policy proposal like this would need to be put in the context of national infrastructure development, energy regulatory frameworks, and plans such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action plans (NAMAs), or what have been termed Low Carbon Growth Plans. Importantly, Public-private Partnerships can be adapted to FiT structures. In turn, these satisfy the key investor criteria we believe are critical to private sector investors: Transparency, Longevity and Certainty TLC. As we noted in our recently published whitepaper, Global Climate Change Policy Tracker The Green Economy: The Race is On, the developing world should not be left out of this race, both for the sake of the world s environment but more importantly, for the long-term viability of their own economies. The race is on GET FiT! We welcome feedback on this Green Paper. 5 GET FiT

6 Summary for Policy Makers Overview The world faces two interrelated energy challenges that require serious capital mobilization: global CO 2 must be stabilized to avoid catastrophic climate change, and access to affordable, reliable and clean energy must be extended to the 1.5 billion people of the developing world in rural areas without grid connection to alleviate poverty and drive economic development. Renewable energies can help achieve these goals, in tandem with complementary efforts focusing on funding for energy efficiency, other low carbon energy options, and electricity grid expansion. Within this wider context of national plans, the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FiT) Program is a concept to specifically support both renewable energy scale-up and energy access in the developing world through the creation of new international Public-private Partnerships. GET FiT would efficiently combine a fund of public money directed for renewable energy incentives with risk mitigation strategies and coordinated technical assistance to address project development and financing barriers. This combined approach would catalyze the supply of, and the demand for, private sector financing of renewable energy projects in both middle- and low-income countries, while also insuring maximum incentive capture at least cost to the funding partners. Importantly, it would provide what we see as crucial for private investors: Transparency, Longevity and Certainty TLC. GET FiT would serve as a bridge to grid parity for renewable energy both by allowing developing countries to gain experience with renewable resources prior to break-even scenarios, and by adjusting incentive rates to reflect lower prices over time. This proposal is written from a standpoint of developers and financiers of renewable energy projects, highlighting the instruments which would help to mobilize private capital. The GET FiT concept could be flexibly adapted to specific national contexts, and could be launched on a bilateral, regional, or global basis. The race is on to create green economies and the developing world should not be left out. Renewable Energy Financing There is a broad range of policies in place that support renewable energy around the world, including mandates and standards, innovation policies, carbon pricing, and others 1. The primary goal of GET FiT is to support renewable energy policies that reduce or mitigate investment risks, and consequently attract significant private capital to drive markets for commercially-available technologies. Feed-in tariffs, and similar performance-based incentives, have proven to be effective and efficient mechanisms for creating investor security and driving rapid renewable energy growth. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, for example, concluded that feed-in tariffs achieve larger deployment at lower costs. By 2008, feed-in tariffs had driven 75% of PV capacity and 45% wind capacity worldwide. Although ~27 developing countries have adopted feed-in tariff policies, their designs and effectiveness vary widely, and some countries lack the financial strength, grid infrastructure, and/or regulatory frameworks for full policy implementation. GET FiT would partner with these and other developing countries to financially support policy structures that appropriately adapt best practices to national contexts, as part of broader, low-carbon development strategies (e.g. NAMAs) 2. Such policies would include: a) Primarily, the deployment of advanced feed-in tariff designs that target on-grid, commercialized, renewable resources at the right price 3 and that focus on the most appropriate technologies for local conditions. b) Power purchase agreements as a pre-fit regulatory mechanism in countries that face grid integration constraints, or for technologies that have a limited in-country track record, with the ultimate goal of the implementation of broader FiTs; and c) The adaptation of FiT design principles to create performance-based incentives for decentralized multi-user energy generation, especially mini-grids, in rural areas not included in current grid expansion plans. By supporting a range of policy structures, GET FiT could be tailored to work in different national contexts, including least developed countries, which may lack the grid infrastructure to initially support full feed-in tariffs. In each of the three cases 1 DBCCA (2009). Global Climate Change Policy Tracker: An Investor's Assessment. Available from 2 Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action 3 Advanced feed-in tariffs include cost/price discovery processes, the flexibility to respond to markets, and mechanisms to efficiently establish a pathway to grid parity while still operating within a transparent framework. See DBCCA (2009). Paying for Renewable Energy: TLC at the Right Price - Achieving Scale through Efficient Policy Design Available from 6 GET FiT

7 Summary for Policy Makers outlined above, the GET FiT Program would contribute public sector funds to share the above-market costs of renewable electricity with partner countries, whereas utilities would commit to purchasing electricity from generators at market price. 4 This stabilization of revenue streams would attract significant amounts of private sector capital from both domestic and international sources to build renewable energy projects. The payments would be adjusted to reflect market conditions over time and chart a pathway to grid parity. Renewable Energy Risk Mitigation In addition to providing direct incentives for renewable energy development, GET FiT would work with national and international partners to address a variety of risks and barriers faced by project developers, investors and financiers, including development risk, off-take and counterparty risks, political risk, market risk, reinsurance risk and currency risk. As can be seen in the graphic below, GET FiT would provide premium payments, passed through the national governments and utilities to independent power producers (IPPs). The utility would pay at least the market rate to the IPP, and there would be minimal additional burden on the electricity ratepayer. The transfer payments of the FiT premium to the IPP could be guaranteed by the national government, or by the GET FiT Program, depending on the national context and creditworthiness of the involved parties. An international sponsor would provide an ultimate guarantee for the GET FiT payments. 5 Political risk insurance entities, (e.g. MIGA, OPIC, private sector providers, etc.) could play a role in mitigating sovereign risk 6, and could also backstop governments guarantees of renewable energy payment where necessary. Currency risk is also a concern in the global renewable energy market, and it is envisioned that the GET FiT portion of the payments would be made in hard currency, thereby significantly minimizing local currency risks. Legend: Premium payment Market price payments Guarantees Financing Ratepayers International Sponsor Guarantees Debt Providers Pays avoided cost rate Pay electricity bills Pays portion of premium Pays portion of premium Provide financing Independent Power Producer Utility National Government GET FiT Program Equity Investors Passes through premium payment Guarantees total payment, if possible Guarantees payments to IPP, if required Insures against political risks Risk Insurance (private & public) 4 The portion of the renewable energy premium payment borne by GET FiT would vary based on national conditions; a portion of the premium could also be recovered from national utility ratepayers. 5 For decentralized energy generation, in particular mini-grids, a renewable energy service company (RESCO), owned either by the local community or by third party-developers replaces the utility in the chart shown above. The RESCO might also fully integrate both the independent power producer and utility functions shown in the graph above into a single entity, depending on the business model. 6 The involvement of political risk insurance entities would depend on a wide range of factors, such as coverage eligibility criteria (i.e. national ownership requirements), each insurer s capacity to cover sovereign risk related to project development, government creditworthiness, etc. 7 GET FiT

8 Summary for Policy Makers Aggregating and Coordinating Existing Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Direct financial support and risk mitigation strategies can create the financial conditions necessary to attract domestic and international capital. In the developing world, however, renewable energy projects can also face an array of non-financial challenges. GET FiT would seek to address these challenges by coordinating existing resources in the energy sector and directly involving domestic players in the Program s management and transactions. As can be seen in the graphic above, GET FiT would maximize the involvement of domestic government and utilities in the management of the program in order to reinforce the development of renewable energy expertise and capacity. GET FiT would also seek to create the conditions for private sector actors such as local banks and energy service companies to establish track records with renewable energy finance, development, and operations. This could be accomplished both through direct partnerships and through indirect effects, such as structuring feed-in tariff policies that create stable demand for the services of local contractors. The combination of sustainable local involvement, with focused and appropriate technical assistance could enable developing countries to capture the full economic and social potential of the GET FiT strategy, in particular with regard to job creation, the expansion of technical know-how, and domestic market development. In order to strengthen demand for financing and to address the non-financial barriers to renewable energy in the developing world, GET FiT would help source technical assistance and capacity building focusing on areas such as: Advanced feed-in tariff policy design, including initial rate setting and ongoing review Grid capacity and expansion cost analyses, resource assessments, project feasibility studies, and integrated energy planning processes for governments and government agencies, Grid management and renewable energy integration strategies for utilities, Financial due diligence and risk mitigation strategies for local financiers, and Renewable energy project development, system construction, and operation and maintenance services for local private sector players. Of this broad menu of activities, GET FiT would directly fund some technical assistance (e.g. feed-in tariff policy and rate design), but would primarily focus on aggregating and coordinating existing technical assistance resources from multilateral, bi-lateral, and private sector partners. The challenges addressed by the GET FiT Program s approach are summarized in the table below: Barrier Rapid scale-up of renewable energy may not be affordable for developing countries, and many existing policies do not offer sufficient payment levels to generators Many developing countries face grid or other renewable energy integration constraints which do not allow them to implement broad FiTs Renewable energy projects have trouble accessing affordable capital because of a broad range of risks There are a wide range of technical, regulatory, legal, and political barriers to renewable energy deployment that cannot be resolved through policy design alone FiTs to date have targeted energy access in a limited regard (e.g. Ecuador has a FiT for off-grid systems but it is not fully operational) GET FiT Solution GET FiT will support the payment of above-market premiums for renewable energy projects through feed-in tariffs or similar policy mechanisms In countries that only limited capacity for on-grid resources, GET FiT will also support the development of transparent lighthouse PPAs in order to build an early in-country technology track record and prepare for a broader FiT regulation. During the PPA phase, Get FiT will continue to work with governments on grid expansion and renewable energy integration plans. GET FiT will mitigate risks for developers, financiers, and investors by creating financeable incentives, backed by appropriate guarantees GET FiT Program will provide and coordinate targeted technical assistance focusing on feed-in tariff policy design, price discovery, rate setting, and policy review. The Program will actively aggregate and coordinate energy-related capacity building efforts of other public and private institutions GET FiT Program will support the development of off-grid solutions, such as mini-grids, in remote areas of developing countries 8 GET FiT

9 Summary for Policy Makers Program Impact Renewable energy investments in the developing world yield lower carbon abatement costs than in the developed world, while also achieving a broad range of additional social, economic, and environmental objectives. Based on a preliminary analysis, a 3 bn US$ commitment under the GET FiT scheme could facilitate: Over 1 GW of newly installed on-grid and off-grid renewable energy capacity; The abatement of approximately 100 million tons of CO 2 emissions over funded projects lifetimes, which would translate into abatement costs of approximately 30 US$ per ton CO 7 2 ; and Access to affordable, clean, and reliable electricity for over half a million people in rural areas, assuming that 60 MW of off-grid renewables are included in the portfolio of funded generation technologies. We would expect around 4 US$ billion of project finance capital to be attracted to such an investment program. Governance and Capitalization The GET FiT concept is intended to be a flexible, but detailed, program design that could be managed and funded through a number of different existing and/or new channels. At this stage of concept development, neither capitalization strategies nor governance structure are addressed in detail. To a large extent, these issues will be shaped by the way in which the GET FiT Program is ultimately adopted and implemented. One of the original guiding principles of the GET FiT concept was that it should serve as a template for parties seeking near term action on renewable energy development in the post- Copenhagen environment. It is conceivable that the GET FiT template could be deployed as a truly global structure as proposed in recent concept papers from international organizations. It may be challenging, however, to deploy and fund such a global structure in the near-term. Alternatively, it is also possible that GET FiT could be implemented in phases, with the initial phase prioritizing near-term bi-lateral or regional implementation opportunities. There are currently several ongoing or proposed bi-lateral national partnerships focusing on climate change and renewable energy technology deployment in developing counties that currently have feed-in tariff policies. South Africa, for example, is exploring working with Germany, whereas Kenya has announced plans to work Japan. Such bilateral partnerships could provide an avenue for deploying the GET FiT concept in an institutionalized way. It might also be possible to form specific multi-lateral partnerships in support of target regions. Depending on the ultimate structure of the GET FiT Program, there are a wide range of potential capitalization strategies that could be pursued (e.g. fast start funds, international carbon markets, national donor strategies, bonds, etc.). A key funding challenge will be how best to secure the funds necessary to guarantee long-term incentive payments to projects. It is unlikely that national donors would be able to provide the upfront the capital necessary for the entire projected incentive payment. As a result, it may be necessary for the GET FiT fund to explore funding opportunities in bond markets secured by commitments from donor organizations and other revenue streams through long-term annual commitments. 7 Based on preliminary modelling conducted by Deutsche Bank; the results of this analysis will vary, strongly depending on assumptions about baseline emissions, technology mix, incentive levels, and the split between on-grid and off-grid capacity. Conservative assumptions have been chosen for the decentralized projects, taking into account required technical assistance and length of implementation process. 9 GET FiT

11 The Challenge of Renewable Energy in the Developing World: A Project Level Perspective Chapter Overview: The challenge of renewable energy in the developing world The world faces two interrelated energy challenges that require serious capital mobilization: global CO 2 must be stabilized to avoid catastrophic climate change, and access to affordable, reliable and clean energy must be extended to the 1.5 billion people of the developing world in remote areas without grid connection to alleviate poverty and drive economic development. Renewable energies can help achieve these goals, in tandem with complementary efforts focusing on funding for energy efficiency, other low carbon energy options, and electricity grid expansion. Although there is a vast potential for renewable energy in the developing world, large-scale renewable energy deployment faces significant challenges and barriers. When looked at from the perspective of a developer and financier, these can generally be grouped into four categories: (1) cost competitiveness, (2) technical and engineering concerns, (3) project development, and (4) financing. This Chapter provides an overview of these barriers and details their characteristics, their interactions, and types of potential solutions. Renewable energy can play a key role in addressing the challenges of climate change and energy access in the developing world. CO 2 levels must be stabilized in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. 1.5 billion people do not have access to electricity in the developing world. Developing countries are seeking to expand on-grid generation capacity to serve growing load, and to electrify rural and remote areas. Renewable energy can, through efficient policy design that includes Public-private Partnerships: Meet rising energy demand, diversify generation portfolios, reduce dependency on (expensive) energy imports, and mitigate climate change when integrated into national and regional grids. Provide access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy in remote rural areas to alleviate poverty and drive economic development. Renewable energy deployment, however, faces a series of key regulatory, infrastructure, ownership, and policy barriers, which may vary depending on project size, technology, application, and geography. Besides renewable energy scale-up, which is a central theme of this report, efforts will be required to support energy efficiency, other low carbon energy options, and electricity grid expansion to maximize the impact of renewable energies. In particular, the establishment of internationally connected grids could mitigate concerns over renewable energy intermittency and reduce installed capacity requirements. There are three electricity system structures that need to be considered: large-scale grids, smaller regional grids and decentralized micro or mini-grids. Any specific proposal like this should be put in the context of an overall plan for a country s energy system, often expressed as a NAMA or Low Carbon Growth Plan. Although there is a vast potential for renewable energy in the developing world, large-scale renewable energy deployment faces significant challenges and barriers. These can generally be grouped into four categories: cost competitiveness, technical and engineering, project development, and financing. A sample of these barriers is included below in the form of questions that might be asked by project developers and investors when considering renewable energy opportunities in a given country. (1) Cost Competitiveness Are renewable energy technologies cost-competitive with traditional electricity generation technologies and/or are incentive programs in place to level the playing field? 11 GET FiT

12 The Challenge of Renewable Energy in the Developing World: A Project Level Perspective (2) Technical and engineering concerns Is there a stable grid that a renewable energy project could connect to? Are grid data readily available to developers from utilities? Are there incentives in place to encourage utility information sharing with independent power producers (IPPs)? Does the grid have the capacity to absorb power from new generation? Is there a development plan in place to build or strengthen the grid, especially if the grid is constrained? Are renewable energy resource assessments available to project developers or must they perform their own? Are grid operators able to integrate and manage renewable energy power plants? Is there a risk that a renewable energy generator will be disconnected as a result of a lack of operator experience with distributed generation or as a result of power failure? Are there experienced local plant managers or service providers that can operate, maintain, and monitor installations to ensure they operate optimally (and generate expected revenues)? Is renewable energy technology and/or component manufacturing present in the country? (3) Project development concerns Do utilities and/or local project developers have experience working with feed-in tariff policies, power purchase agreements (PPAs), and/or standard offer contracts? Are there legal mechanisms in place for developers during contract negotiations, and in the event of lawsuits/appeals? Are transparent and clear rules in place for projects to connect to the grid (interconnection standards)? Does the utility regulatory structure create barriers for project developers, or for certain types of ownership structures (e.g. independent power producers, community ownership, etc.)? Do project developers have sufficient financial resources to finance the development phase? (4) Financing concerns Is the risk-return profile attractive for equity and debt investors? Are risk-mitigating measures in place for the major risk categories? Do policies and regulations mitigate off-take risk and offer Transparency, Longevity, and Certainty (TLC) to investors? Are project counterparties creditworthy (i.e. are utilities creditworthy, is the source of incentive payments considered creditworthy)? Would projects be exposed to political risk, such as government instability? Do investors have access to low-cost political risk insurance? To what extent is political risk insurance necessary and available to guarantee payments for electricity? Is corruption a factor in the country? Is currency risk low enough that it can be readily absorbed? Are hedging instruments, or is inconvertibility insurance, available? Are local banks familiar with renewable energy technology and policy or do they need assistance acquiring this expertise? Do they have sufficient knowledge of or capacity to deal with regional or international banks? Do local banks have the necessary knowledge base (valuing, auditing, etc) to evaluate and finance renewable energy projects? Do local financial institutions have the capacity to lend to projects? Do they have experience lending to decentralized energy systems, such as mini-grid applications? Do international banks provide financing in the country? 12 GET FiT

13 The Challenge of Renewable Energy in the Developing World: A Project Level Perspective The barriers to renewable energy projects in developing countries constrain both the demand for, as well as supply of financing. Moreover, the barriers are interrelated and can be mutually reinforcing. Cost competitiveness Technical concerns Access to financing 3 Project development The renewable energy market in developing countries is characterized by a lack of access to financing (i.e. supply of financing) and limited project development activity (i.e. demand for financing), with each factor activating and compounding the other: Given the low probability of finding investors, many project developers cannot afford to make the upfront investment in feasibility studies and project development activities. Investors that would like to be more active in developing countries are unable to do so because there is a lack of well-developed projects. Few renewable energy technologies are already cost competitive with conventional alternatives. In cases where they are cost-competitive (e.g. when replacing diesel generators in remote applications), there is a lack of financial security necessary to attract capital. Many developing countries governments subsidize electricity generation and fossil fuel prices, which further decreases the potential cost-competitiveness of renewable generators. Since the barriers are interrelated, strategic interventions must be coordinated to change the dynamic. Targeting both supply and demand for financing will accelerate the development of renewable energy markets in developing countries. 13 GET FiT

14 The Challenge of Renewable Energy in the Developing World: A Project Level Perspective Barriers to renewable energy development can differ depending on project size, technology, application, and geography. The graphs below illustrate how the relative severity of different barriers can vary from the developer perspective using on-grid and off-grid PV installations as examples. The graphs, which rank each of the barriers on a scale from 0 to 5 (0 = no concern and 5 = serious concern), are based on Deutsche Bank surveys of project developers active in developing world markets. Example 1: Large, grid-connected PV project Cost Technical competitiveness concerns Cost competitiveness Example 2: PV Mini-grid Technical concerns Access to financing Project development Large, grid connected PV power plants can operate at an average LCOE of 20-40$c/kWh and are therefore currently one of the least cost competitive sources of renewable energies. PV s high costs, however, also mean that the technology has a substantial potential for cost reductions over the next few years. Financing is available, but many international grant funding facilities have difficulty investing in PV because of limited project development pipelines. Project development is constrained by high opportunity costs of international developers, and a lack of technical expertise among local players. Access to financing Project development Mini-grid PV applications are competitive with small scale diesel-generated electricity. Such projects however must be well designed to meet the requirements of local communities. Substantial local involvement is required to secure community buy-in. Local project developers lack technical expertise, and projects are often too small to attract attention of international developers. Financing can be difficult because project sizes may be too small for large lenders, and/or because local banks do not have a track record in mini-grid and/or PV financing. If local banks do have an established renewable energy financing track-record, they may not want to assume the off-take risk, depending on offtaker volume risk and creditworthiness. The above example underpins the fact that the type of support required to accelerate renewable energy deployment in developing countries varies depending on the specific context. While financial support and risk mitigation will be crucial for large, grid-connected projects, focused capacity building will also have to be brought to bear in order to support both on-grid projects and the development and realization of mini-grid applications. 14 GET FiT

15 The Challenge of Renewable Energy in the Developing World: A Project Level Perspective Renewable energy barriers require coordinated policy, financial and technical assistance strategies. The graphic below links the challenges described on pages 11 and 12 with potential financial, risk mitigation, and technical assistance strategies in order to illustrate the mix of solutions that could be coordinated. Direct financial incentives, such as FiTs, to level the Proving techno-economic feasibility through pilots playing field with conventional generation Technical assistance for local market providing IPPs with sufficient returns players and for local government to analyze renewable potential Cost Technical Incentives for utilities to provide competitiveness concerns high quality grid data as a basis 1 2 for renewable energy project development Stable and transparent policies that provide financiers with Transparency, Longevity, and Certainty, such as FiTs Risk mitigating instruments: guarantees to mitigate counterparty risks, political risk guarantees and currency hedging instruments Capacity building for local banks 4 Access to financing 3 Project development Grant funding/financial support for feasibility studies Streamlined process for projects approvals by government agencies and utilities Targeting each of the four categories of barriers will maximize the outcomes of any broader policy initiatives. The actual mix of instruments applied to resolve barriers will need to vary from country to country depending on factors such as in-country technical know-how, the maturity of the domestic renewable energy sector, the strength of national and regional financial institutions, and the capacity of government and utilities to support and manage renewable energy programs. 15 GET FiT

16 The GET FiT Solution Chapter Overview: The GET FiT Solution The Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FiT) Program is a concept to address some of the barriers described in the preceding Chapter by addressing key risks and making renewable energy projects bankable. The Program would support both renewable energy scale-up and energy access in the developing world through the creation of new international Public-private Partnerships. GET FiT would combine a program of public money for renewable energy incentives with risk mitigation strategies and coordinated existing technical assistance to address project development and financing barriers. This combined approach would catalyze the supply of, and the demand for, private sector financing of renewable energy projects in both middle- and low-income countries. GET FiT would serve as a bridge to grid parity for renewable energy both by allowing developing countries to gain experience with renewable resources prior to break-even scenarios, and by adjusting incentive rates to reflect lower prices over time. This proposal is written from a standpoint of developers and financiers of renewable energy projects, highlighting the instruments which would help to mobilize private capital. This Chapter describes the goals of the GET FiT, including appropriate adaptation of feed-in tariff best practices to specific national contexts, the integration of renewable generation into national and regional grids, and support for decentralized energy solutions. The GET FiT concept seeks to provide a solution for some of the barriers to renewable energy described in the previous Chapter. GET FiT envisions a global program that includes public money to support and expand feed-in tariffs in the developing world, and the adaptation of advanced feed-in tariff best practices to serve national goals for energy access and renewable energy scale-up. GET FiT adopts a bottom-up project development / investor perspective and builds off high-level global feed-in tariff program proposals that were developed by international bodies and NGOs during To date, global feed-in tariff funds and programs have been proposed by, among others: Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (under the UNFCCC) UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs European Renewable Energy Council and Greenpeace World Future Council World Wind Energy Association International Renewable Energy Alliance Project Catalyst European Commission Joint Research Centre Most of these recent proposals share the following characteristics: They are high-level concepts developed in advance of the Copenhagen conference. The majority recommend providing long-term premium feed-in tariff payments, although some also propose that low-interest loans, technical assistance, and other forms of support be delivered in tandem. Their capitalization strategies focus on carbon emissions trading revenues (emissions auctions, carbon tax proceeds), national donations, and/or multi-lateral bank sponsorship. They envision being embedded in the existing international infrastructure (e.g. Global Environmental Facility, World Bank Climate Technology Fund, etc.). The GET FiT Program builds upon the high-level concepts contained in proposals such as these and explores implementation details in a way that reflects the concerns of project developers, owners, and financiers. More detailed summaries of these recent proposals can be found in Appendix I. 16 GET FiT

17 The GET FiT Solution The GET FiT mission is to: Support renewable energy scale-up and energy access in the developing world through the creation of new international Public-private Partnerships. Catalyze the supply of, and the demand for, private sector financing of renewable energy projects in both middle- and low-income countries, and create economically viable renewable energy investment opportunities by: Supporting national renewable energy policies that mitigate investment risks, and attracting significant private capital as part of broader, integrated low-carbon growth plans. Adapting international renewable energy policy best practices to the developing country context to support both on-grid and off-grid development. Strengthening the ability of the local private sector to expand development activity by offering technical assistance. Serve as a bridge to grid parity for renewable energy by: Allowing developing countries to gain experience with renewable resources in advance of break-even scenarios; and, Adjusting premium payments to reflect lower prices over time. Supply of financing Economically viable investments Demand for financing GET FiT would focus on three strategies to achieve its mission and address barriers: The creation of an international program(s) that provides direct incentives to renewable energy projects, channeled through national policies and institutions. The incentives would be structured in partnership with national governments to reflect advanced feed-in tariff design best practices that are adapted to the national context. The establishment and coordination of risk mitigation strategies that draw on the strengths of international organizations, and maximize the involvement of national and local institutions. The aggregation and coordination of existing technical assistance programs targeting non-financial barriers. The GET FiT Program would be structured to address a broad range of risks and barriers faced by investors and financiers making renewable energy projects bankable. As seen in the graphic below, the GET FiT Program would pay a portion of the feed-in tariff premium, which is channeled through the national government and the local utility, thereby relieving ratepayers of a large proportion of the incremental cost of renewable electricity. We discuss the burden sharing issues for paying the premium in more detail later in the paper. The utility would pay IPPs the market prices for power. The GET FiT Program would encourage national governments to guarantee utility payments, to the extent they are able to do so. 17 GET FiT

18 The GET FiT Solution The GET FiT Program could also guarantee utility payments (in addition to guarantees by the government), or have this risk assumed by public or private insurers. The political risk and breach of contract insurance sector could also secure both the government guarantees of utility payments and the utility payments themselves, as necessary. Counterparty risk for GET FiT portion of premium payment would be substantially mitigated by the AAA rating of the Program s international sponsor(s). Legend: Premium payment Market price payments Guarantees Financing Ratepayers International Sponsor Guarantees Debt Providers Pays avoided cost rate Pay electricity bills Pays portion of premium Pays portion of premium Provide financing Independent Power Producer Utility National Government GET FiT Program Equity Investors Passes through premium payment Guarantees total payment, if possible Guarantees payments to IPP, if required These elements are discussed in further detail in the following sections. Insures against political risks Risk Insurance (private & public) GET FiT will tailor its strategies to support renewable energy development in different contexts. The core focus of GET FiT is to provide incentives through feed-in tariff policies, but the Program would also support alternative policy structures that meet FiT design best practices (to the extent feasible) as a bridge to the implementation of full-scale FiTs. Such alternative policies will likely be most applicable to the least developed countries. GET FiT will support: a) Primarily, the deployment of advanced feed-in tariff designs that target on-grid, commercialized, renewable resources at the right price 8, and that focus on the most appropriate technologies for local conditions. b) Power purchase agreements as a pre-fit regulatory mechanism in countries that face grid integration constraints, or for technologies that have a limited in-country track record, with the ultimate goal of the implementation of broader FiTs; and c) The adaptation of FiT design principles to create performance-based incentives and/or guarantees for decentralized energy generation, especially mini-grids, in rural areas not included in current grid expansion plans. 8 Advanced feed-in tariffs include cost/price discovery processes, the flexibility to respond to markets, and mechanisms to efficiently establish a pathway to grid parity while still operating within a transparent framework. See DBCCA (2009). Paying for Renewable Energy: TLC at the Right Price - Achieving Scale through Efficient Policy Design Available from 18 GET FiT

19 The GET FiT Solution GET FiT would seek to integrate renewable energy resources into electricity grids of different scales in order to drive renewable energy scale-up and energy access. GET FiT would target national, regional and mini-grids, recognizing that each grid type would require specific technological and policy solutions. The graph below provides an illustrative comparison of these different grid types according to several key criteria. Current sources of electricity LCOE based on current generation mix Abatement potential (per kwh and total) Cost competitiveness of renewable energy Social/economic impact Strengthening Existing Grids Large, grid-connected renewable energy projects in national or supranational grids Broad generation mix comprising also "cheap" technologies like hydro and coal <$0.15/kWh End user prices often subsidized Medium High Grid-connected renewable energy projects in regional grids Often substantial diesel and crude oil generator capacity $ /kWh $ /kWh End user prices often subsidized Medium-to-high Medium-to-high Rural Electrification Multi-user decentralized systems (e.g. mini-grids) Small scale diesel generators on single user level No access to utilitymanaged grids $ /kWh High Medium Low Medium High Low-to-medium Low-to-medium High Note: LCOE data calculated on the basis of simplified assumptions regarding diesel generator efficiency and current diesel prices as well as publicly available data for other technologies. While large grid-connected renewable energy projects offer the highest absolute abatement potential, mini-grids have a substantially higher abatement potential per kwh, and are more likely to provide direct social and economic benefits by enabling energy access and creating new economic development opportunities. Population density, projected electricity consumption, and distance from the grid will be among the factors that determine the most appropriate GET FiT strategy for a given country or region. Although GET FiT will seek to support multi-user decentralized energy applications, in anticipation of eventual connection with national or regional utility-managed grids, the Program will not directly support single-user, off-grid systems (e.g. stand-alone solar home systems) because these types of installations are more appropriately served by other incentive mechanisms. 19 GET FiT

20 The GET FiT Solution Summary of the GET FiT Program Strategies The graphic below summarizes each of the major barriers that the GET FiT Program would target, as well as the proposed solution. Barrier Rapid scale-up of renewable energy may not be affordable for developing countries, and many existing policies do not offer sufficient payment levels to generators Many developing countries face grid or other renewable energy integration constraints which do not allow them to implement broad FiTs Renewable energy projects have trouble accessing affordable capital because of a broad range of risks There are a wide range of technical, regulatory, legal, and political barriers to renewable energy deployment that cannot be resolved through policy design alone FiTs to date have targeted energy access in a limited regard (e.g. Ecuador has a FiT for off-grid systems but it is not fully operational) GET FiT Solution GET FiT will support the payment of above-market premiums for renewable energy projects through feed-in tariffs or similar policy mechanisms In countries that only limited capacity for on-grid resources, GET FiT will also support the development of transparent lighthouse PPAs in order to build an early in-country technology track record and prepare for a broader FiT regulation. During the PPA phase, Get FiT will continue to work with governments on grid expansion and renewable energy integration plans. GET FiT will mitigate risks for developers, financiers, and investors by creating financeable incentives, backed by appropriate guarantees GET FiT Program will provide and coordinate targeted technical assistance focusing on feed-in tariff policy design, price discovery, rate setting, and policy review. The Program will actively aggregate and coordinate energy-related capacity building efforts of other public and private institutions GET FiT Program will support the development of off-grid solutions, such as mini-grids, in remote areas of developing countries 20 GET FiT

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